Leo Kottke Looks Back at His Long and Uncategorizable Musical Journey
Leo Kottke's musical adventures have inspired generations of musicians. Throughout this journey, the one constant has been his love for acoustic guitar.
Irina Kulikova Explores Her Formative Influences as a Child Prodigy in Russia
Irina Kulikova’s life story is an inspiring tale of how natural talent, hard work, and family support combined to launch her as an internationally renowned classical guitar virtuoso.
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A Guitar Tribute to J.S. Bach on His 336th Birthday
Here is J.S. Bach’s transcendental prelude to Cello Suite No. 1 performed on acoustic guitar. Learn the history of this arrangement and find advice for learning to play it yourself.
Guitar Talk: Connecting with Leading UK Fingerstylist and Educator Tristan Seume
Tristan Seume has made his way into the top tier of acoustic guitar instrumentalists in the United Kingdom not only due to the extraordinary fingerstyle abilities demonstrated on his original and interpretative recordings, but also his penchant for sharing his skills. In addition to being in high demand to play…
Guitarists Richard Osborn and Glenn Jones Shed Light on the Great, Enigmatic Robbie Basho
Although he grew up in Maryland alongside such American Primitive guitar pioneers as John Fahey and Max Ochs, also releasing several albums on Fahey’s Takoma label, guitarist and singer Robbie Basho expanded on the style by bringing Hindi, Indian, Japanese, and Native American music into his playing. A very religious…
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Classical Guitar Standard Bearer Manuel Barrueco Explores His Roots in the Music of Spain and Cuba
Speaking about recording his upcoming album, classical guitar giant Manuel Barrueco asked in a recent phone interview: “Do you know ‘A la Cubana’ by Enrique Granados? I have re-recorded it three times because the arrangement just wasn’t right. It’s hard and it’s supposed to sound easy. That’s a bad combination,”…
Acoustic Guitar Legend Tony Rice Dies at 69
The guitar world lost one of its greatest legends when Tony Rice died suddenly on Christmas Day 2020, at his home in Reidsville, North Carolina.
A Survey of British Fingerstyle Guitar from the 1960s to the Present
British guitarists Davey Graham, Martin Carthy, John Renbourn, and their contemporaries created a body of work that set the template for modern players while helping extend the expressive range of the steel-string guitar in general.
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Guitar Talk: Lianne La Havas Draws from Bossa Nova and Samba in Her Nylon-String Guitar Work
British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas’ third album, a self-titled song cycle that chronicles the full arc of an intense relationship, is dreamy for several reasons
Catching Up with the Eclectic Guitarist and Composer Andrew York
Catching up with guitarist and composer Andrew York on the launch of his online video subscription service, Andrew's Den.
How a New Lap Steel Guitar Sparked Ben Harper’s First Instrumental Album
In 2010, during a visit to New York City, Ben Harper stopped into the guitar mecca Rudy’s Music to check out instruments. He was sampling a series of top-of-the-line archtops when a guitar stopped him in his tracks: an instrument by renowned luthier John Monteleone. Though Harper is best known as a lap steel player who brought vintage Weissenborns into the limelight of contemporary roots-rock, he heard in that archtop a tone quality that he’d been seeking for years, and he wondered whether Monteleone would consider building a guitar for lap slide.
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Inspiration and Unification: Cultural Ambassador Claudia García on the Power of Mariachi
Mariachi in the realm of music education is nothing new. For California-based educator, vocalist, and guitarist Claudia García, uniting the two worlds has been a lifelong passion. García’s experience directing mariachi began back in 2001, when she was an undergraduate at Harvard University. After discovering the school had no mariachi…
Al Di Meola Takes Classic Beatles Tunes to New Places
After nearly 50 years exploring the most remote destinations on the musical map, Al Di Meola’s homecoming to formative influences The Beatles was always going to involve new languages and fresh perspectives. The travelogue that preceded it, after all, carried the New Jersey native across a universe of sound and…
Sharon Isbin’s Multihued Musical Experience
During a phone call from her New York City home, multi-Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin’s voice reveals patience and acceptance regarding the situation imposed by the current pandemic that has kept her and every other touring artist out of concert halls. “I haven’t traveled since the middle of February,” Isbin says.…
Guitar Talk: Kenyan Singer-Songwriter Ondara Has Found his Voice in America
One of the more interesting cats to emerge in the acoustic guitar world is Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter J.S. Ondara.
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Watch Bruce Springsteen’s Take on the Classic “Oh Shenandoah”
In this recently released video (originally filmed in 2006 during the recording of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions), the song reaches new heights with Springsteen’s signature anthemic, yet acoustic, sound.
How Singer-Songwriter Anaïs Mitchell Tapped Into Tradition in Hadestown—and New Band Bonny Light Horseman
Back in 2006, Anaïs Mitchell was in a Vermont studio with producer/guitarist Michael Chorney working on her album The Brightness. Then in her mid-20s, she was already a rising star of the singer-songwriter world, winning the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk award and signing with Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe label.…
Watch an Alternate Take of Elvis Performing “That’s Alright” at his ‘68 Comeback Special (And Get Tips for How to Play It on Guitar)
As guitarist Scotty Moore tells it, the song’s recording happened nearly by accident.
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The Acoustic Inventions of Chet Atkins, Certified Guitar Pioneer
You can’t learn what Chet Atkins knows about playing the guitar from a book or from his records. Any guitarist who has lifted one of Atkins’ solos or some of his knuckle-busting moves from a tape and tab knows that while it’s possible to play the notes correctly, getting them…
Justin Townes Earle on Songwriting, His Idiosyncratic Fingerpicking Style, and Battling Personal Demons
[Ed. Note: Singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle passed away on August 23, 2020, at the age of 38. Earle last sat with Acoustic Guitar’s Kenny Berkowitz for an extended conversation in 2012. Here is that interview.] As the son of Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle carried an enormous weight of expectation. Would he match…
Fingerstyle Authority: John Renbourn on His Distinctive Technique and Approach to Arranging
Whether as a solo artist, playing duets, leading his own group, or as a founding member of the seminal British folk-jazz ensemble Pentangle, Renbourn’s playing has left a profound imprint on the modern landscape of acoustic music.
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Five Questions for Gretchen Menn, Author of ‘The Way Music Works’
San Francisco Bay Area–based Gretchen Menn is the author of The Way Music Works, portions of which can be viewed at Acoustic Guitar Plus (formerly Guitarcast). We recently reached out to Menn, ordinarily a busy performer, to see how she’s been handing her musical life during the coronavirus pandemic, and…
John Williams Travels Beyond the Classical Guitar’s European Roots
In the pantheon of classical guitar greats, Australia-born John Williams stands as a most imposing figure. For decades he has been the archetype for recitalists of the post-Segovia era. His singular technical abilities and thoroughgoing approach to the music he plays have set very high standards for those seeking to…
Guitarist/Composer/Teacher Benjamin Verdery Has Taken the Eclectic Road
Benjamin Verdery inhabits his own exclusive territory in the classical guitar world. Among the virtuosi of the baby boomer generation, it’s not hard to make a case that Verdery has explored the most diverse musical terrain.
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Woody Guthrie’s Songwriting Wisdom
Guthrie is in many ways our prototypical singer-songwriter, showing the young Bob Dylan, among countless others, how to use old songs to make new ones.